


When it Counts

by arachnid_writes



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Fantasy AU, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, does THAT tag still apply???, does that tag still apply, it’s just [jazz hands] magic injuries, no blood though, oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26055694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arachnid_writes/pseuds/arachnid_writes
Summary: After suppressing his healing magic for so long, Leo finds it incredibly difficult to use them properly at all.Especially when it counts.
Relationships: Leonardo & Michelangelo (TMNT)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 89
Collections: The Messenger The Hunter The Prince and The Thief





	When it Counts

**Author's Note:**

> this fic can also be known as fantasy leo has mommy issues [john mulaney voice] and it affects him to this day.

It all happened so fast. Too fast for Leo to react properly.

He should’ve been paying more attention, shouldn’t have been so careless, but he was and he couldn’t change that. He was _wide open_ for a blast and before he could do anything purple energy was crackling towards him. He had closed his eyes, hands reflexively reaching up to protect his head at the very least.

And that’s when something pushed forcefully at his side and he was sent sprawling out of the way, back landing on the ground and grass _definitely_ staining his practically fresh and new traveling outfit.

He had scrabbled quickly to his feet, expecting another enemy to deal with— likely one of those bumbling foot bozos— only to be met, horrified, with an unconscious baby brother. Smoke still wafted from his abdomen, sprawled on the ground.

In that moment he couldn’t even care about his mother, who had attacked the two of them out of nowhere. It looked like she had taken her leave anyways, and he rushed over to Mikey, turning him over so that he could get a better look at the wound. It was _bad_.

Leo’s hands hovered over mikey’s abdomen. They trembled violently, and he had to resist the urge to clench them and steady them. He needed his fingers open to get more area, but _stars_ was it making it incredibly hard to focus.

Letting out an exhale he pressed his hands down on the abnormally glowing wound, wincing both at Mikey’s resulting quiet yelp and the sickly purple color that seemed to grow harsher, its light reflecting off his face. He’d only seen mother do this spell a few times, a light show that dazzled a younger him into silence, but he’d never knew it could be _weaponized_. He swallowed thickly.

Mikey wheezed a little bit, but Leo kept his eyes trained on his hands, eye ridges furrowed in both frustration and concentration. His eyes flickered white briefly, specks of energy floating down as if they had weight, before dissipating and leaving his yellow eyes to shimmer with barely restrained tears. “Come on. _Please_.” he whispered through gritted teeth. “ _Work_.”

At the feeling of the body underneath his hands shifting, Leo startled, looking up quickly to see Mikey conscious and pushing off with his elbows. The tears vanished from Leo’s eyes in an instant— _don’t show weakness, weakness is ugly—_ and he moved one of his hands to rest on Mikey’s back.

“What are you doing? Stay down, I can’t heal you if you’re up.” he said, forcing his voice to stay even despite how much it longed to waver.

“Leo?” Mikey’s voice was strained, and his eyes focused on the slider’s face. Leo forced a smile, and that seemed to reassure Mikey. He nodded and let Leo guide him to lay back down, and Leo returned his guiding hand to his abdomen again.

“I-I’m gonna press down again, and you’re probably gonna feel it more now that you’re awake,” Leo started, the sight of the almost crack-like wound spreading towards his chest causing him to panic a little. “I don’t know if this is gonna work but it’s going to because it has to-“

Mikey reached up and grabs Leo’s arm, making him look back at him. “It’ll be okay, Leo. I trust you.”

Leo’s eyes widened a fraction, and he nodded once, a wobbly smile appearing on his face at the words. The naive, honest trust that he _definitely_ did not deserve. “Right. Yeah. You’re gonna be okay.”

He looked back down to his hands and pressed down once more, biting his bottom lip as Mikey’s grip tightened and his little brother hissed.

_ You’re gonna be okay. _

The image of a butterfly flashed in his mind, wings crumbling away like ash. He closed his eyes tight.

_ I’m gonna make you okay. _

Leo’s eyes snapped open, but he still couldn’t see. His vision was white, and he felt the presence of something both weightless and heavy leaking from his eyes and bouncing down the curve of his cheeks. His hands were _buzzing_ , and he felt as if he was pulling something into his arms. He gritted his teeth, the presence of this something feeling dark and all kinds of _wrong_ , the tendrils wrapping up and up. 

He heard his brother’s quiet exhale and forced the tendrils to move faster, grunting softly as the buzzing feeling raced up his arms with it and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead from the exertion. Finally, his fingers didn’t feel a presence anymore, and like scissors cutting string he pulled his hands off with a gasp, catching himself before he fell backwards.

His vision returned just in time for him to see the sickly purple now swirling around his arms begin to raise and pull itself off, becoming an almost electric blue as it dissipated into the air. He stared in awe for a moment, heart racing.

“I...I did it?” he breathed.

He moved his gaze from the air back to Mikey. His eyes were still...glowing? And so was his abdomen, cracks filling with white before his body returned to the way it was with only the singe of clothes to suggest anything had changed. Was that normal?

Mikey’s eyes returned to their normal red, immediately searching for Leo. When they landed on his older brother he stared before looking down at his stomach, and then a grin started stretching on his face. “Ah!” he exclaimed, looking back up. “ _Ah!_ Leo!”

Leo smiled hesitantly, and Mikey pushed himself onto his knees and shuffled over. The boxshell practically lunged, wrapping his arms around Leo’s neck and hugging him tightly. “You did it! You healed me! I knew you could do it!”

Leo stuttered for a second before he moved to hug Mikey back. “Right, yeah.” he tried to sound as nonchalant as he could, even though he knew that was a losing battle against the literal empath. “I knew that too.”

He looked over Mikey’s shoulder at his hands, turning them upwards to gaze at his palms. He could feel the small void of energy needing recharging, but as he looked at his hands, hands that were once glowing and _healing_...

Suddenly Leo realizes he’s never felt more _alive_.

**Author's Note:**

> hope y’all enjoyed smth i wrote for the rottmnt fantasy au i’m apart of with a few of my friends! this fic is based off of some amazing art my friend ro made (you can find it [here!](https://doesromandoart.tumblr.com/post/627198841874169857/so-how-about-that-fantasy-au-leo-design-by)) 
> 
> we have a collection full of things we’ve written so far (which this fic should be a apart of, so go check it out!) and the fic my friend wrote titled “Beauty” in there should give you context for the butterfly imagery! The #rottmnt fantasy au tag on tumblr also has a lot of cool stuff!!


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